Hi all,

The following step-by step originally appeared as a Patreon post yesterday and I thought it might be a good way to kickstart the News page as I intend for this to be a bit of a blog as well as signposting for events I'm attending etc. Hope you enjoy it and find it useful!

I tend to document projects like this and my scenery pieces, taking pictures as I go along so I can write them up. In the past I have produced quite detailed Twitter/X threads on the process; this time I will likely just link to this post as it makes for an easier read without needing the unroll app.

I started thinking towards this piece at the same time as my Frostgrave diorama (See Portfolio), and ordered identical plinths for the two pieces from Tim at Miniature Heroes.

I started off a year ago with a very rough and basic sketch of the composition (with no real sense of proportions or scale!):

 Then to give me a slightly more concrete idea of how it might look, I mocked up a 3d 'set' with cardboard boxes, some wooden plinths to mark out where the furniture would stand, and the window which would eventually be part of the scene:

 And that was where I left it, while I got on with the Frostgrave piece.

When I was at Dragonmeet in December, I had a nice chat with Ian Livingstone and Jon Green and arranged to paint again at the Fighting Fantasy Fest this September (see previous News post). Ian also asked me if I'd been painting any more Fighting Fantasy figures lately, so I mentioned the diorama idea, and when I got back I decided I really should get on with it!

This started with painting the figure - I'd painted three versions of the 75mm Zagor figure, and I fancied doing something a little different for my own, this time basing it on the cover image for the Advanced Fighting Fantasy version of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, with black gloves and green magical flame around his hands:

After completing other projects, I then revisited my plans for the scene and started building it. I ordered the custom name plate from Versatile Terrain at the same time as the one for my Frostgrave diorama:

 And so initially this was attached to the plinth when I started building the framework from foamboard, with a lasercut MDF window from Fairybridge, a dolls house company:

 However, it became very clear I wasn't going to finish it by the end of the year, and the 2023 was bugging me - very kindly, Keith at Versatile Terrain reprinted it with 2024 for free!

 I knew I wanted bookcases along the left-hand wall, a fireplace (and a table and chair later on), and I had already bought 28mm 3d print files from Legend Games, so I asked Jim at Bristol Independent Gaming to rescale them for 75mm.

 Once I knew how much space everything occupied, I could build the fireplace and chimney breast. I used a Zealot Miniatures open doorway for the surround. I also had a Bad Squiddo Games dragon head trophy which I'd bought some time ago, and decided it was perfect for this project, adding some compositional balance between the bookcase and window and referencing the dragon on the original book cover.

 I then temporarily pinned the Zagor figure in situ so I could be satisfied with the overall scene:

With that all locked in, I could add the stonework to the walls with airdry clay and a textured roller, and paint the floor with textured paint:

 Then it was a case of painting up elements as and when I had the time and opportunity, starting with the dragon head:

 I then collected the table and chair from Jim and painted those, painted the walls, and for some extra props I ordered a crystal ball, pestle and mortar and candles from Quirky Miniatures (a dolls house crafter on Etsy), and temporarily placing it all together it really started to take shape:

 The round mirror frame above the mantlepiece came as part of a pack of four stick-on scrapbook decorations from my local craft shop - I didn't really need to do much with it beyond a couple of coats of Vallejo Metal Color Aluminium for the mirror itself.

Then the final push this week was to paint the bookcase (with plenty of green-spined books as a nod to the Fighting Fantasy readership!), fire and floor tiles, adding red/orange OSL in the hearth and green/yellow OSL around where Zagor stands to show the light from his hands playing on the surfaces - and then glue everything in place:

Overall I wanted to make sure that Zagor himself was the focal point of the scene, trying to make sure he wasn't lost amid all the details, and I think keeping the walls and floor very dark and muted helps to achieve this.

I'm very pleased with the finished piece! I may possibly take it with me to display at Fighting Fantasy Fest 5 in September, and then put it on display at Bristol Independent Gaming - or in my new studio when we move to the new flat!